Prankster targets ice cream chain

Online message claims Cold Stone giving away free samples.

Online message claims Cold Stone giving away free samples.

January 05, 2008

GRAND RAPIDS -- Now, that's cold: Cold Stone Creamery is the target of an Internet prankster who is falsely proclaiming that the large ice cream chain will give away samples of its frozen treats next week. The prank message, posted on the social networking Web site Facebook.com, said the chain will be handing out small, "Like It" portions of ice cream between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Monday. There will be no ice cream giveaway. "This was brought to my attention by my crew in all four stores," said Ginger Hensley, general manager of four corporate-owned stores in the Grand Rapids area. "They were surprised by it." The local shops do not open until 11 a.m., an hour later than the supposed start of the phony promotion. Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Kahala-Cold Stone Corp., whose brands include the Blimpie sandwich chain, has more than 1,400 Cold Stone Creamery shops in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan. By this weekend, all Cold Stone Creamery shops were to post signs on their doors and counters, warning customers of the scam. They also were to encourage customers to enroll in the company's birthday club, which offers free ice cream at least once a year. "We're trying to deal with incoming inquiries right now and get some signage for the stores," said Anne Christenson, a spokeswoman for Kahala-Cold Stone. "I don't think it's so damaging," Christenson said. "If anything, it's just generated a little bit of buzz for us." Locally, Cold Stone has locations at 620 W. Edison Road, St. Andrew's Plaza, Mishawaka; 1290 E. Ireland Road, Erskine Village, South Bend; and at 4536 Elkhart Road, Goshen.